Some early indications that we may be dealing with a formidable El Nino event by the fall. @bennollweather.bsky.social reports... www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2026...

NEW – Pace of global warming has nearly doubled since 2015, study says ✍️ @ayeshatandon.carbonbrief.org Read here ⬇️

No ships at all going through the Strait of Hormuz

Wait. Didn't Kulp & Strauss warn us of this in 2019? www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Good news: Scientists were wrong about how bad sea level rise is. Bad news: It’s even worse than we thought.

Aid cuts are eroding the world’s ability to detect and respond to food crises. Advances in AI can help, but without sustained funding for primary data collection, responses will be less effective, explain Jean-Martin Bauer and @hanshengchia.bsky.social: https://go.cgdev.org/4shNZGD

China’s latest energy data offers a signal worth paying attention to. In 2025, emissions from energy and industry fell by 0.3%, modest, but notable, even as total energy consumption rose by 3.5%. The key driver? A continued surge in solar power capacity.

The solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles (EVs) and wind turbines exported from China in 2024 are set to cut annual CO2 emissions in the rest of the world by 1%, some 220m tonnes (MtCO2). www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-chi...

"The utility has pointed to the region’s historically cold winter as a cause of rising heating demand and costs...But in an email to The 51st, Pepco’s own data show that their D.C. customers actually used more energy in January 2025 than January 2026."

Critical minerals are reshaping geopolitics and driving a new frontier: deep-sea mining. As countries aim to secure their supply chains, the push for the seabed accelerates, reshaping the debate around deep-sea mining. Full analysis on @stimsoncenter.bsky.social: stimson.org/2026/current...

FELLOWSHIP! We’re proud to announce the launch of the Climate Science Serving America fellowship, open to early- and mid-career scientists & engineers who work on climate solutions. Full salary, benefits, and a research stipend. Remote anywhere in the United States. drawdown.org/news/project...

Federal officials now project that Lake Powell will "most probably" drop below power pool level — meaning Glen Canyon Dam will no longer be able to generate hydropower — before the end of this year: www.landdesk.org/p/the-colora... via @landdesk.bsky.social

I just did the dumbest thing of my entire career to prove a much more serious point. I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it

The US has become a climate bully. The sabotage of the IMO shipping levy is the most dramatic example. The pressure on Vanuatu to stop its legal efforts is the most recent. My new piece for @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/18/t...

Conveniently forgotten. @ipcc.bsky.social AR6 SPM C.3 : "Hard limits to adaptation have been reached in some ecosystems (high confidence). With increasing global warming, losses and damages will increase and additional human and natural systems will reach adaptation limits (high confidence)."

Two years ago, Ethiopia did something no other rich country has yet. It banned the import of new fossil fuel cars. In that time, the country went from less than 1% of its vehicles being electric to more than 6% — higher than the global average. Read our feature: 🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

With aid cuts hitting Africa hard, governments must protect essential services while pursuing long-term self-reliance. Biniam Bedasso maps responses to the 2025 disruptions, finding the most aid-dependent countries are least able to adjust: https://go.cgdev.org/46dh1yO

The Colorado River situation is a big f*ing deal, more than most people outside the West realize.

Does #ICanHazPDF still work here? www.emerald.com/ijdrbe/artic...

With data centers expected to become the largest source of electricity demand in the Pacific Northwest, Washington legislators are pressing ahead with a bill aimed at protecting the grid and offsetting potential hikes for utility ratepayers. washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/02/11/h...

Today we’re launching Open Climate Risk, a fully open option for U.S. building-level climate risk data. It’s unique because it allows you to see not only risk scores, starting with wildfire, but also the complete underlying dataset, methods, and codebase. carbonplan.org/research/cli...

Grazalema, Spain, received over 2,000 mm (78 inches) of rain in just the last 20 days. Over a year’s worth of rain — and it’s only early February. This is hydrologically absurd.

Good gut check. At the same time, the symbolism of the US loudly and proudly shirking its responsibilities seems to be having a chilling effect across forward-leaning allies...

THERE'S NO MEANINGFUL US CLIMATE REGULATION TO WIPE OUT look I want my government to acknowledge CO2 bad too but this is not a massive deregulatory victory or whatever

More than half of the world’s new electric cars are now plugging into Chinese sockets instead of lining up at gas stations. By 2024, it is estimated that China’s EV sales were growing about 40% year on year, even as some Western markets stumbled. www.ecoticias.com/en/china-sol...

ICE has now spent over half a BILLION dollars just on purchasing warehouses around the country to convert into detention camps. If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...

"You'll certainly see an initial tranche of money very shortly," Waltz said. "It'll be a significant ... down payment on our annual dues ... I don't believe that the ultimate figure is decided, but it'll be in a matter of weeks." www.reuters.com/business/fin...

This risk—now this reality— was clearly foreseen 20 years ago when in first started working on climate change, and warnings were given— but no one wanted to hear them and some fought to belittle the Cassandras. So many Americans are now trapped in a terrible position as a result.

For the second time in 3 years, manufacture, installation & export of batteries, electric cars, solar, wind and related tech accounted for more than 1/3 of China’s economic growth www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

New study uses #satellite records and shows that #SouthernOcean #phytoplankton responds in contrasting ways to marine #heatwaves and #cold spells. The impacts vary sharply by region, exposing distinct #ecological sensitivity to #climate -driven extremes. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This research paper is the first time that a tipping point of a switch from a carbon sink to a carbon emission source in tropical rainforests has been identified clearly – not just for one year but for the last 20 years. Cause is a change in the local climate. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Today @cato.org published our report providing the first look at the fiscal effects of the wave of legal & illegal immigration over the last 3 decades. It shows immigrants created surpluses every year, by a combined $14.5 trillion, even as deficits grew www.cato.org/white-paper/...

From a friend who works at an MPS school with hundreds of families in hiding: "The thing REALLY needed is money for rent/utilities/cell phone bills. It looks like there is a lot of money raised but across 5 schools it’s not enough with February rent coming due." givebutter.com/rent4mplsfam...

Data center energy and water use have gotten a lot of (rightful) attention. But there's another issue that's getting less attention than it should: The immense amount of carbon-intensive concrete needed to build them 🎁🔗

Spain to offer legal status to half a million undocumented migrants 🎁: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

"France to ditch US platforms Microsoft Teams, Zoom for ‘sovereign platform’ amid security concerns" www.euronews.com/next/2026/01...

Can anyone explain what the $20 million for the U.S. Institute of Peace in FY26 appropriations will be funding?

At least 16 people have died as ferocious wildfires gripped Southern Chile, burning homes and thousands of hectares of land, the authorities said Sunday.

In what ways can and should #climatemobility be financed through the Fund for responding to #LossandDamage? How much will it cost? Hear from the experts at this @carnegieendowment.org event ⬇️ carnegieendowment.org/events/2025/...

Fragmentation, deinstitutionalization and #militarization, combined with the erosion of many values-based norms, threaten the very survival of the multilateral system. This #SIPRI publication discusses the changing landscape of #conflictmanagement and #peacebuilding. 🕊️Read more: bit.ly/49mQe5a

New analysis out today from Rhodium Group showing data centres were one of the major drivers of the first rise in total economy-wide emissions in the US in years Uncontrolled growth of demand has helped boost coal growth, in conjunction with the LNG export boom -> rhg.com/research/us-...

@iom.int & Ruta del Clima created the first-ever costing tool to quantify #LnD for #plannedrelocation & disaster #displacement. Results in #CostaRica & #Chile calculated that governments would need to invest around $65,384 per household to address LnD. carnegieendowment.org/posts/2026/0...

"Power generation from coal fell by 1.6% in China and by 3.0% in India in 2025, as non-fossil energy sources grew quickly enough in both countries to cover electricity consumption growth."

NEW – Q&A: What Trump’s US exit from UNFCCC and IPCC could mean for climate action | @daisydunne.carbonbrief.org @mollylempriere.carbonbrief.org @orladwyer.carbonbrief.org @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social @rtmcswee.carbonbrief.org Read here: buff.ly/Mkjsh61

The WIM Secretariat recently released its “Technical guide on accessing financial resources aiming to avert, minimize and address the impacts of displacement associated with the adverse effects of climate change” A real mouthful! But worth the read! unfccc.int/sites/defaul...

Bill Gates changing his tune on climate change investment... www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Looks like an Onion headline

"Withdrawing from the #UNFCCC will mean the US no longer has a seat at the annual “conference of the party” (Cop) meetings, and ..from the #IPCC will mean the US no longer has a veto over the “summary for policymakers” that accompanies its seven-yearly reports." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I hope Sue Biniaz’s take (and she is in a position to know these things having worked on the issues a long time at State) that the US could rejoin the UNFCCC easily, is what happens. I also hope thar groups litigate the withdrawal as well though am less confident that would win in court.